A Fanciful Twist

WOooooHOooooo HEEEeeeee YAaaaaaaaaa!!

Okay, I know I said I would be back with some new art pieces.  However, something major has happened & I am making an impromptu visit to Bloglandia.  It is here.  The reason that I know the Halloween season has arrived.  There is nothing we can do. The season can no longer be put on hold.  Everyone is in the mood. No more waiting.  I know you are still hot, it is still hot here too.  You think it is hot where you are?  It was 103' here today. And I am still having to jump in.. So come on already! JUMP!

Here is the story of what happend on this curiously wonderful day!!! And, how I was forced, full force, into the Halloween mood. 

I was hanging around this afternoon after my trip to the real world, minding my own business... When all of a sudden, I heard a noise & felt a pain...

      

I ran to the mirror. The pain was on my chin. YIPPPEeeeeee!  My witches mark had arrived!!! Yay!!!

      

You see.  I told you I was a witch.  I am morphing.  I am a good witch though. Spreading light and love.  ;)

Then after the find I heard this loud crashing sound. It was like metal breaking through the walls...

      

I knew it!! The Pirate ghost ship with the yearly loot was here.  Yippeeee woo hooooo!!!! Is this exciting or what??? The skeleton pirates are here, and they only come here during the Halloween season. So you see, It is here!!!

      

Oh, this is just too good to be true!  Look at all the loot!! (that is my ship, it used to be in the yard, it is now inside...  I want Mr. Lovee to make it hang from the ceiling. Is that too much to ask?)

      

I could not have been happier!  I ran to the mirror to make sure that my witch's mark wasn't just a rogue zit... Hey, looks like my nose is getting pointy too!!! Well, maybe I am stretching it.  But it will get pointy, I just know it. It has too!!! For my witches party!

      

Well, the chin visitor is questionable.. But, let's stick to Halloween Witch's mark, k? (I have not had a zit in years, what is up with that???)

I was at Barnes & Noble today, picking up some gifts for a lovely creature, and I was standing facing the magazine stands, feeling like, Halloween just might pass me by if I don't get into it now.  Every magazine was screaming my name.

      

Well, they are all off to Paris... But, I am keeping the socks... And, I refuse to remove them (they are the same socks I have worn on Halloween for 5 years, impressive, but perhaps I should get a new pair?)...

      

As I was taking this photo, I glanced to the left, and what did I see??? But an orange light peeking in and toying with the Halloween in me!!

      

You see. For all these reasons, I am jumping into the Halloween spirit.  Starting now.  Will you come and play along with me??

You don't have to dress up as a witch.  You can dress up as anything else. Like Wonder Woman?  Your pillow case lovin' friend thought she was in fact Wonder Woman, once upon a time... See her little shortie self there on the right... Yep, that is me. The only time in my whole life I have had short hair... Dorothy Hamill hair...

      

Cheeeeese! See you soon!!!

I best comply...

I have been tagged.  I am it. So here we go.  7 things about me, weird, interesting, unusual.. Who knows...  Perhaps I'll bore you to death?  7 things nonetheless....

      

1)  I collect things.  Things I think are fantastic and throw the average person into freak-out mode.  I walk into a strange old shop... Lots of very very old religious icons and such.  I see this. It says "Beware." Others glance away, I exclaim "I'll take it." 

      

It is supposedly a box created by a strange artist who lived in SanFransisco & New York in the 60's.  He used to make these strange boxes, and sometimes, leave them on the street for people to grab. Sometimes, they exploded.  I forgot the name of the artist and what the boxes were called... But, it hasn't blown us up yet.. And, it is glued shut... Should I be afraid?  I love it...

2)  I have alot of books.  Books everywhere you turn. Magazines too, but books, ALOT!!!  Books at the "in town" house...

      

Books in Catalina (my space in the country where I have my studio, gallery, and loftish space. OH! and Mr. Lovee).

      

More books in Catalina...

      

Books still in bags, books by the couch...

      

      

There is more where that came from. But, I feel like I am looking pretty freaky already, and I am only on #2. 

3)  This next one has been brought to my attention by my sister.  She found herself quite disturbed when she tried to hop into my bed and veg with me...  I sleep with weird things in my bed.  I think you might have already heard this.  But, if you can't find the scissors or the screwdriver, simply look in my bed... I know, I'll die from a self inflicted stab wound one day... C'est la vie...

      

4) I have had lead in my left hand and in my right finger since elementary school... I have no recollection of how it got there.  I just know I have it.  Actually, the only thing I remember is trying to get it out once... Disaster...

      

      

4)  I have to sleep 8+ hours a night.  I must sleep alone, in the dark, in the middle of my bed.  My pillows must be positioned like the top of a pointy roof, or else.  I am evil if bothered during sleep.  My sister recalls being punched when my mom would send her to wake me for breakfast as kids.  I slept through the huge california earthquake in the 90's.  We were on our yearly retreat to spend a couple weeks at the Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego.  I felt so at home that, I stayed in bed.  I was sleeping. Thank goodness the place didn't collapse on me.. Sheesh...

5)  I am still recovering from growing up.  I don't mean mentally, I mean physically.  Granted, I was not made to be a very tall person.  However, I used to have a Saturday morning ritual of running to the television room with my pillow and watching T.V.  I would cozy up on the couch, and get into my pillowcase with my pillow, like a little sleeping bag.  One day, I went to get in and the pillow case was too short.  I had grown.  It was the most disturbing thing...  I still snuggle in, but only to the top of my legs. Too bad I can't get all the way in.  That would make me really small though...

My sister is answering the last two for you...

6) In high heels & by myself, I manage to get a bed, an armoire, a dresser and a chaise lounge into my car.  With precision.

7)  Very often, people think that my name is an invented stage name.  A drag queen got angry at me once, and told me he was going to steal my name???  He shouted on the street, that he thought of it first and I couldn't use it.  What?  Hahahaha!

I was tagged by Sarah & Dave. Hope I played right guys!  If any of you want to play this game, you can leave me 7 things about yourself in my comments.  That would be soo fun!  Or play along on your blog! ;*

Okay, back to work I go...  So busy with a bunch of projects...  New pieces at the next post!  I have a show coming up soon. YIKES!  And a witches party to plan, oh my!!  Into my dungeon...

      

See you soon!!!

A little love...

You girls are so much fun.  You inspire me, you fill me with laughter and humor me with my silly stories...  I love my little space here. I enjoy very much visiting with so many of you, either through your blogs or through e-mail (or both).  I don't mean to get all sappy, but what can I say?  It's the truth... 

      

I love creating special little spaces.  Mr. Lovee built me a second work bench.  I have decided I will not be painting the surface.  I am leaving the wood he chose... It touches my heart strings...

      

I put a television and dvd player in the studio.  When I spend 14 hours at a time making jewelry it is good to have a movie in the background. However, while painting I really just stick to music.  I can't stand a movie on while I am painting.  I don't know why?

      

I am smitten with my new work bench.  Mr. Lovee is the bestest ever.  Who knew that the way to my heart would be through a work bench?? No flowers or candies, thanks, but no thanks. But, um, how about a workbench?? Haha!

This is a picture of the opposite side of the studio, in case you were wondering...

      

I am trying to recover from a strange food poisoning of sorts since Friday. So, I will keep this short.. But I am working on some new art pieces.. So exciting, and I did have a few visits from some cackling gals this weekend... You will soon find out...

I was chatting with the wonderul Lisa Oceandreamer about Melancholic Sundays.  How I always get a bit of a tinge of sadness on Sunday's... So, I was thinking, I might have to turn Sunday blog posts into "Sappy Sunday's." Do any of you get funny Sunday evening feelings? 

I will leave you with the lovely Emilie Simon (French). This video reminds me a bit of what my girls might look like if they came to life...  The lovely Beth (who has a wonderful new website) and I are so in love with Emilie.  We are like, song swappers. Always going back & forth sharing music loves...

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See you soon!!!!

Paths & Lifetimes

I never really understood, when people older than me would refer to times in the past as, "other lifetimes."  I would ask questions like, "did you really dance under the pale moonlight in your birthday suit?"  And the response would be "that was not even me, it was another lifetime..."

Funny enough, I am starting to refer to times in my past as other lifetimes. Seemingly so long ago, that the experiences are mere memories. The events not even tied to me. 

I was rushed into one such memory today.  Prompted by the most interesting find.

I was thrifting not long ago and came across this book.  I usually buy most art books that I find.  I just adore them...

      

Only this book held secrets. Secrets that someone never new of.  The book must have been taken off a shelf and tossed into a junk pile... It contained two love letters to a woman named Genevieve.  The only thing was that, Genevieve was married... One of the letters was simply tucked insde.  There were also little articles taped into the book here and there...

      

      

The second letter was taped to the inside back cover.  The letters were from a man who stated how much he adored this woman.  Yet he understood she had a life and would not cause her any problems.  He admired her cooking, her words, her intelligence.... Wow, I thought, what a secret to be tucked away in a book.  A book that gets into the hands of some kookie girl in Tucson, Arizona in the year 2007.

      

I love such finds.  They make my imagination soar.  I always think that I am the best person to find such items. As I relish in them.  Adoring each find.

I was looking at this book yesterday evening again. Which is probably why my mind held on to the thought and I woke up with a memory of something that happened to me. Something so ironic, it throws me into a fit of butterflies in my stomach.

That leads me to a story that goes something like this...

In 1994 there was this 18 year old girl named Vanessa Valencia.  Only, she was a different Vanessa.  One from another lifetime ;)

                                           

She was fun-loving and quite the party girl.  She didn't pay much attention to the boys her own age. However, there was one boy that she knew since elementary school.  He was a doll and she always had a bit of a distant crush on him throughout the years.  However, once she got to be in highschool, she didn't much pay attention to him.  She was in her own little world oblivious to the world around her... 

There was an incident that caused him to give her a greeting card at a very busy event.  The girl handed the card to her mother, without reading it,  and went on with the night...  She had contact with the boy throughout that night, and he acted so funny.  She wondered why he was acting so strange.  However, the night continued to unravel, there was a huge party... She forgot the whole thing.  The school year was finally over, and so was highschool.

She went on with her life.  Not even looking back at the past.  Not even thinking about her life in that little town. She wanted nothing of it.  She wanted to move on, have new experiences and forget all the people she once knew...

One day, in her second year at University, she was desperate to find a piece of information to use for a speech she had to give in her Speech& English class.  She sat on her bed, doing her toes, putting on coat after coat of lipgloss... Reading an old issue of Vogue magazine...

      

She never got rid of magazines and had piles of them. As she flipped through the pages of this older issue..

      

A big envelope appeared.  She looked at it perplexed. It had never been opened.  She quickly ripped it open.  It was a big sparkly card.  Handwritten on the inside were words that went something like, "I have been in love with you for many years. I am using this evening to tell you that, I love you.  If you have any feelings towards me, give me a sign tonight."

She read it over and over. Shocked, shocked, shocked!  What?? What??? How could this be? How could she have not seen this for two years?  She called her mother.  Her mother said, "Oh Sweetie, you didn't want any of your cards that night, so I put them in a magazine for you when I got home."

It was the most ironic & unbelievable thing that had ever happened to her...

Today as I walked early in the brisk morning, I thought about that girl. The girl I used to be.  All the different paths I had been led on.  I struggled to try to remember that night 13 years ago. His face.  I remembered he had grabbed my hand, and I thought, "Wow, this is weird." But the rest of the night was blank...

Boy, did I have a story for that speech class the next day.  It was about irony and paths... So many keys, and so many doors... And the clock ticks on... Other lifetimes, other people. People we were, people we will become...

      

Do you ever stop and chuckle?  Do you feel memories swell in your throat?  I love thinking about these things.  I have no regrets and I can peacefully lay in the grass, looking through the tress, up at the sky...  Thinking and chuckling... Happy and delighted that I am where I am.  On this little path I am on...